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Tigon Warband
Once one of the Decimator Warbands, Tigon was unquestionably the most aggressive of them. Taking the ideals of “warrior kings” to their most logical extremes, the Tigon warband favoured raw physical strength and prowess in battle over all else. In the early years of the Decimators, this allowed them to grow quickly, but their aggressive nature would often lead to heavy losses and conflict with other warbands. Ironically, it would be their destruction that would serve to reunify the Decimators. History Start the Violence Like the other Decimator Warbands, Tigon was created in 2202 out of Dexter Malek’s goals of creating a unified, self-perpetuating raider culture. The leaders of his warbands were chosen from his closest followers, individuals that he felt would be both the most capable and the most loyal to his ideals. One of them, Laars Gunderson, was chosen to become Warlord Tigon, leader of the titular warband. A massive brute of a man, Gunderson was possessed a surprisingly sharp strategic mind behind his fierce countenance. Given free reign to shape his warband as he saw fit, albeit as long as he honoured the guidelines Malek had laid down, Tigon chose to shape his warband in his image. A fan of Grognak the Barbarian, he began to synthesise the fictional world of the comic and its characters with the supposed mythology that Malek had laid down (Unaware that it also was based on a comic book). He drilled into his followers the idea that physical strength and prowess in battle was superior to all else. His followers would be barbarian warriors of the wastelands, an unstoppable horde where might would make right. Tigon’s philosophy proved to be popular, with his warband growing quickly with new recruits drawn to the ideal of physical strength. Many of his early converts were from tribal groups who saw the warband as a “better” version of their own culture, and sought not just to emulate it but actively embrace it. As his warband grew, Tigon staged competitions to determine who would be his lieutenants, testing them in their physical prowess as well as their abilities in battle. These would include one-on-one fights that while not intended to be to the death often resulted in a fatality no less. Many were still willing to risk themselves in these battles, both to earn positions of power and their warcheif’s favour. Dangerous Acquaintances By 2207, the Decimators were a known threat to the people of Minnesota, but at that point, few realised their full strength, capabilities or extent. The actions of the Tigon Warband would serve to demonstrate their full power, and prove that the Decimators were not only a force to be feared, but one that as there to stay. They were driven not only by the usual motivations of plunder, but also a desire to prove their power and ensure that they would be feared and respected. Granite City was a major trade hub, linking several communities, as well as traders along the Mississippi river. It also served as the centre for several farming communities, making it something of a local power. The city was a significant local power, one of the biggest and most important in the state. Tigon saw it as a prime chance to prove his warband’s power by attacking their largest and most prominent target to date. While in theory the Decimators were all unified under a single banner, the truth was that they were still competing with each other for Malek’s favour; as such, Tigon saw this as a way to boost his standing. The Tigon attack on Granite City was driven by a pure ‘shock and awe’ approach. The Tigon warband advanced en-masse, presenting an intimidating, seemingly relentless wall of men that fell upon the city’s defenders before they were able to properly react. The attackers smashed though the city’s ramshackle walls and fell upon the populace in an unstoppable human wave. Effectively taking control of the city, the Tigon looted, pillaged and took whatever they could, and burned whatever was left. After sating their leader’s appetite for destruction, they simply departed, leaving a devastated city in their wake. At that year’s convention Tigon boasted of his accomplishments, presenting a number of prizes taken from the city to Malek. As expected, he was showered in praise by their leader, who held him up as the pinnacle of what the Decimators could be. In short order, Tigon had, in Malek’s words, ‘put fear into the hearts of lesser men, so that they will know our names’, and adding that Tigon’s attack was ‘a moment of terror that would live on in their darkest fears’. In short order, Tigon had made the Decimators a force to be reckoned with. For the next year, Tigon would ride high on the acclaim they received from Malek. Their ranks swelled with new recruits and their territories expanded rapidly. For a few years, they were the second-largest of the Warbands after only Decimaxx itself, a position that earned them equal measures of respect and enmity from their compatriots. Tigon used this position for all it was worth, throwing around their weight to get their way over the other Decimators. This behaviour lead to the development of a somewhat antagonistic relationship with the nascent Exaxes Warband. With its technological focus and interest in robotics, as well as their slow growth relative to the other warbands, the Exaxes were in many ways the polar opposites of the Tigon. As a consequence, the Tigon leadership frequently derided their efforts and capabilities, seeking to portray the Exaxes as weak or ineffectual. These actions lead to a rivalry between the two warbands that would last for decades. For the next few years, the Tigon would remain at the top of the Decimators, but eventually, the other warbands began to catch up to them. Tigon’s raw strength and fury were slowly being surpassed by the others, who possessed better technology, planning or both. Even the death of Warlord Orbar, the first of the founders to fall, in 2210, only served to slow this inexorable march. By 2212, Tigon had been surpassed by several other Warbands, and was now in the middle of the pack. This loss of standing ate at Tigon. Rather than trying to determine why his warband was seemingly falling behind, he instead ordered his warband into what he saw as being a decisive act that would again prove their power. The Warband would return to Granite City in greater numbers than before and wipe the community off the map. Mustering their numbers, the Tigon advanced on the community, eager for battle and confident of their victory. Instead, the attack was a complete disaster for the Tigon. Following the first attack, the people of Granite City had resolved to never let anything like that happen to them again, and had taken precautions against the Decimators’ return. The city had been fortified with the construction of walls and barricades around its exterior, as well as guard posts and other defences. Added to this, the city now boasted far more guards, and many of the civilian populace were also armed. Tigon’s headlong charge, intended to intimidate their foes, instead ran into this well-defended nest, immediately bringing them under heavy fire. Even though their front ranks staggered, Tigon urged them onwards, determined not to let their advance be stopped by what he saw as a ‘handful of weak peasants standing before the might of the warrior kings’. The Granite City defenders fell back, leading the Tigon attackers into a series of choke points and kill boxes, further whittling down their numbers. It was only after Tigon himself was badly wounded that somebody was willing to call a retreat, leaving much of their force behind, dead or wounded. After falling back to their base camp, what passed for a medic saw to Tigon’s wounds, only to find that they were far worse then initially thought, and confirming that he did not have long to live. In his last moments, Tigon named Mal Borough, one of his lieutenants, as his successor. This transition was confirmed later by Malek, who used the failed Tigon attack as an object lesson in hubris and the sort of thinking that he was trying to avoid. Biohazards Borough, now Tigon (II) was left with the unenviable task of rebuilding the warband, something made more difficult by their humiliation in front of the others. Many of the Warband’s old guard had died or been severely wounded in the attack on Granite City, leaving Tigon with gaping holes in its ranks that they struggled to fill. The same groups that had in past provided them with ample recruits were now far less willing. Second generation Decimators, those born to Decimator parents, were emerging, but it would be years before they were fit for combat. Not willing to wait that long, Tigon began a series of what they called harvest raids, aimed at tribals, outlying communities, scavengers and other fringe groups. These attacks were aimed at capturing targets rather than killing outright. However, rather than being immediately enslaved, their victims were given the choice of becoming warriors for the Warband. Those that did take the option had to go through a ritualistic indoctrination (usually involving a brutal pummelling at the hands of other members of the warband) before being declared it for combat. This allowed Tigon to slowly rebuild, but even then, they were a far cry from what they had been. The incursion by Dakota Tribals into Minnesota in 2216, and the subsequent war, was one that they sat out due to their on weaknesses. Rather, Tigon turned to opportunistic attacks on those territories that were normally the targets of the other Warbands. Feeding off their distraction, Tigon was able to rebuild to a degree and reassert some of the Warband’s prior position. As Decimaxx, Orbar and Axoid returned from their campaigns bloodied but triumphant, they found that Tigon was once again near the top of the heap. With their renewed confidence driving them, Tigon struck out again, but this time taking a different course to the other warbands. Now they ventured east, heading towards the Mississippi river and the old state line. Bypassing the radioactive craters of the Twin Cities, they instead stepped into new and untapped lands, ripe with fresh prey. Now the Tigon warband were operating on their own, without any of the other Warbands to compete with them. For several years, they plundered western Wisconsin with impunity, free from any rivals while dealing with a populace that had no idea just how large or organised a force they were facing. Their monopoly on eastern Wisconsin would continue until 2225, when scouts from the Neebo Warband also entered the region. They were surprised to find just how heavy a presence Tigon had and how well stablished they had become there. Tigon took issue with their presence, and claimed that Neebo were intruding on their territories. The situation began to escalate with clashes between the two warbands with both sides aggressively attacking the other. The issue was raised at the 2227 convention, where both Neebo and Tigon pressed their cases. Decimaxx considered the issue, and then ruled that Wisconsin was not Tigon’s alone to exploit. As he explained it, all lands belonged to all the Decimators, and no one warband would be allowed to exclusively control raiding of any given territory. This ruling lead to a land rush of sorts, as other Warbands, particularly Neebo and Axoid, surged into Wisconsin. While Tigon were already well established, they now were facing competition for the same targets. Not wanting to fall behind again, Tigon (II) began searching around for alternatives. One presented itself to them purely by chance when a group of raiders stumbled into a previously undiscovered chem lab that had remained untouched since before the war. Formerly the property of a local college sports team, the lab had been making Buffout and Psycho for ‘professional use’. After some experimentation, the Tigon Warband found that not only were the benefits of these chems clear, but they were able to reverse-engineer them to resume production. This boon served to greatly enhance the Tigon Warband’s performance. Now their warriors were stronger and more aggressive than before, and it showed. The Warband were launching more attacks and taking on bigger targets, quickly outpacing their rivals in what became known as the Wisconsin Land Grab. This unofficial contest saw them deliberately aiming to squeeze out Neebo and Axoid in the state, including deliberate intimidation and provocation of their rivals, but never stepping up to actual attacks. These actions pushed the limits of the Decimator’s laws, but, as Malek noted when concerns were raised at the next convention, did not break them. For the next decade and a half, the Tigon Warband would continue to operate across both states, fuelled by their ongoing use of performance-enhancing chems. While they were never able to return to quite the same pre-eminence that they had boasted of in their prime, they still remained near the top of the Decimator Warbands no less. Their aggressive behaviour saw them squeeze the other warbands out of Wisconsin; while they were not driven out altogether, they also found their operations marginalised compared to Tigon’s aggression. Behind the scenes, the rampant Chem use continued without any restraint or thought to the consequences. Many members of the Warband were becoming addicted, and now were using chems (chiefly Buffout and Psycho, although others were also frequent) regularly. Where they could not find, make or steal supplies, however, they would go so far as to trade for chems. The result was that while Tigon controlled vast territories, its wealth was far less than it should have been. To many, this addiction became their secret shame, as the warband sought to hide this dependence from the others. This became hard at times, especially when Tigon (II) died of an overdose in 2236. Fortunately, the distraction caused by the war with the Minnesota Militia allowed them to conceal exactly what had happened, with Lee Stiggler ordering Tigon’s body burned before ascending to become Tigon (III). Fatal but not serious Any issues within the Tigon Warband were overshadowed by the stepping down of Decimaxx in 2241. Having guided the Decimators’ culture and society for nearly forty years, he felt that his society was stable enough now to carry on without him, becoming the self-perpetuating raider culture had striven to create. Unfortunately, his successor, Decimaxx (II) proved to be a most unworthy heir, showing none of his predecessor’s leadership skills, charisma or foresight. Instead, he seemed to be more interested in sating his own needs and luxuries then anything else. Tigon played to this weakness, taking advantage of the diminished position of the prime warband (Even if it was in appearance more then fact) to prey on the others. Aggressive campaigns pushed Orbar and Axoid’s holdings in Wisconsin to the brink, to the point where the other two warbands were hanging on more out of pride and an unwillingness to admit defeat then any actual gain. Both warbands took the matter before Decimaxx (II), only to have him dismiss their complaints. Behind the scenes, Tigon had approached him with offers of a steady chem supply as a way of winning his favor. This alliance continued for several years, with Tigon quickly becoming Decimaxx (II)’s favourite as they provided him with chems and other vices. Doing such allowed him to circumvent those within his own warband that questioned his authority or tried to lead him back to a path more akin to what his father had intended. In return, Decimaxx rewarded Tigon for their loyalty by resolving disputes in their favor, effectively making the Warband his own right hand. Several others, most notably Exaxes, raised concerns about Tigon’s actions, only to have them shot down by Decimaxx. This arrangement would last until 2249, when the Minnesota Tribe became too much of a threat for the Decimators to avoid. Vexar essentially goaded Decimaxx into taking action directly against the group, claiming that it was his duty as their leader to deal with this threat. While the move surprised Tigon, it did not seem to worry them; if anything, Tigon (III) himself was confident that Decimaxx would handle the situation and return victorious, reinforcing his rule. In doing so, they knew that they would also be bolstered through their alliance with him and his warband. However, the result was anything but what they had expected. Instead, the Decimaxx warband was utterly destroyed, with almost all of its fighting force killed in the field, including Decimaxx (II) himself. While the Decimators as a whole had been left leaderless, the sudden change of the status quo to a completely unexpected and unprecedented new order affected Tigon the most. Deprived of their sole ally, they found that they no longer had any shield for their actions. No sooner had the convention formerly declared the Decimaxx warband dead then a new wave of attacks had begun. However, this time it was the other warbands going after Tigon, seeking to repay years of treachery and abuse of power. Suddenly attacked from all sides, the Tigon warband were forced to concede ground and yield to their enemies. Even with their rampant chem abuse, Tigon’s warriors were simply outnumbered and pressed from all sides. However, their salvation would arrive from a most unexpected source. Even as they sought to repay Tigon for their past actions, other old tensions flared within the Decimators. Soon, each warband was preying on the other, seeking out territories, resources or just to repay some perceived slight. Tigon survived the conflict, but not gracefully. As these skirmishes wound down in the 2250s, the warband had conceded much of its territory and had to contend with considerable losses. However, they were not alone, as the other Warbands would also see their presence and numbers diminish over time as they fell into what became known as the long winter. As the bonds between their warbands broke down and their relationships grew strained, each one of them looked inwards. Decimaxx’s ideals of cooperation and communication broke down, replaced with begrudging suspicion and resentment. This was not to say that the Warbands were inactive during this time. They continued to raid targets across their territories, but their numbers grew fewer over the years. In spite of this, Tigon did manage to rebuild to a degree and was one of the few warbands to experience any real growth (Albeit from a considerably weakened position). Their relationships with the other warbands remained tense, however. Their contributions to the ever increasingly ceremonial conventions largely consisting of angry exchanges with the others, especially Exaxes with whom they had a long-standing grudge. In 2259, Tigon (III) was killed in battle while leading a raid on Granite City. He was replaced by his second, Eustace Vong, who became Tigon (IV). Any hope the other warbands might have held that the new leader would prove to be more amenable and less confrontational were soon dashed as, at the next convention, Tigon (IV) proved to be, if anything, even more disagreeable and then his predecessor. He also seemed to share their dislike of Exaxes, an attitude that would colour events to come. Run from the future The leadership of Tigon (IV) lead to a tense half-decade where Tigon sought any advantage it could find over its fellows. Their numbers began to grow as they expanded, showing signs of life that made them stand out from the otherwise moribund warbands. Many feared that they might gain enough power and influence to try to bend the others to their will, in essence making themselves the new prime. Behind the scenes, Tigon had developed a quiet alliance with Neebo, the latter of whom had developed a taste for the Warband’s chems. The 2265 convention saw a boiling point in Tigon’s problematic relationship with its compatriots. Feeling that the pickings in Minnesota and Wisconsin were becoming too slim for them, Tigon (IV) announced that his Warband were planning an incursion into Illinois. The state believed to have ample supplies of pre-war tech and other valuable loot, and he intended to claim it entirely for himself and his warband. Consequently, this pronouncement was aimed both at laying a claim to new territories while also sending a warning to the others not to interfere. Past exploration of Illinois had revealed the presence of a large, well ensconced, high-tech force that occupied much of the state. Their presence was a part of why the Decimators had never advanced further into the state. Some saw any effort to do such as a risk, possibly bringing down a bigger power on the Decimators as a whole. Exaxes, however, took a different approach. They warned Tigon (IV) about the risks of his actions, but did such in a way that questioned his ability to handle such threats and the prowess of the Tigon Warband as a whole. This underhanded taunting had the desired effect. Tigon claimed that he would carve out a kingdom within Illinois to prove Exaxes wrong and claim its riches for themselves. Outside of Exaxes, the other Warbnds remained impassive at this decision, content to let Tigon do whatever they wanted while being quietly glad that the warband would be distracted from raiding their holdings. Only Neebo expressed any concern, largely due to the under the table alliance between the two. As soon as the Convention was over, he mobilised the majority of the warband, marching them across state lines and into Illinois proper. As expected, the Illinois campaign was a complete disaster. Most of what happened would never become known to the Decimators as a whole, but the results were clear; by the start of 2266, the Tigon Warband had lost its leaders and the vast majority of its warriors without making any actual gains. The survivors were in retreat, trekking hundreds of kilometres back to frieldy territory during the winter, with more succumbing to cold and starvation then enemy action. Fragmentary reports and rumours suggested that Tigon (IV) himself had fallen early in the campaign, and the Warband had not been able to decide upon a new leader, hastening their demise. The other Warbands fell upon Tigon’s holdings, most of which were now only defended by skeleton crews or had been completely abandoned to support the Illinois campaign. The remnants of Tigon were unable to defend themselves and had little cooperation or communication with each other, and succumbed in short order. Some warriors simply fled, and would degenerate into simple raiders or scavengers with little to connect them to their past. At the 2267 convention, Tigon was declared to be dead, the second warband to have fallen. However, their destruction would become the catalyst for the revitalisation of the Decimators and a new unity among the remaining warbands. Culture Like the other Decimator Warbands, Tigon based its culture around the rules and guidelines laid down by Dexter Malek in 2202. However, also like the others, the warband followed its own variations on those rules that gave it a unique culture. The warriors of the Tigon Warband favoured physical strength and prowess in battle above all else, and saw martial skill as being the most desirable trait in a leader. One consequence of this was that all of Tigon’s successors were chosen based on how strong they were or how they had fared in battle, rather than any skills as a leader or ability to organise the warband. One consequence of this belief was a strong sense of competition, both within and without the Warband. Members of the Tigon warband would constantly compete against each other to prove their physical prowess and thus worthiness to lead. Disputes within the warband were often settled by combat, although these fights were rarely to the death. Rather, one party or the other would usually yield and accept the result. However, in serious matters, especially amongst the upper raks of the warband, battles to the death could and did occur. Even when not fighting, members of the Warband would still compete with each other; asking another warrior how much they could lift, for example. Likewise, the Tigon warband was very competitive with its fellow Decimators. They were less interested in collaboration as they were in competition, being determined to outdo their rivals and be seen as the most powerful of the warbands. Not only were the Tigon warband very territorial, but they would also raid their fellows if they thought they could get away with it. Under Decimaxx (I)’s rule, they were careful not to go too far as to provoke censure or a response, but later they became more open and unrestricted. The Tigon held particular contempt for the Exaxes whom they saw as being weak and dependent on technology. This created a rift between the two that would ultimately lead to the Tigon Warband’s destruction through Exaxes’ manipulation. The use of performance enhancing chems within the warband started out as a way to stop what was then seen as a decline in their presence when faced with greater competition from the other warbands. However, over time, it became epidemic, with most warriors regularly using buffout or even psycho to enhance their performance. Other chems were also used for recreational purposes, but did not have the same degree of cultural penetration as to become everyday. Goals On the surface, the Tigon Warband shared the same goals as the other Decimator Warbands. They sought to create a self-perpetuating raider empire that would eventually come to resemble a legitimate state. Like the other warbands, they also sought to be seen as the most powerful of the Decimators, born both from the cultural tenants laid down by Dexter Malek and their early years of rampant expansion, especially at the expense of the other warbands. In many ways, this desire to be the lead warband would define them, to the degree that anything they did to achieve this goal was justified. The Warband’s excessive use of performance-enhancing chems was one example of this mindset. In many ways, Tigon’s view of the Decimators did not include the other warbands. They were so focused and single-minded in their own objectives that they under-cut many of the principles that the Decimators were founded on. This attitude would alternatively reward and bedevil them, and ultimately lead to their destruction. However, it also remained persistent, regardless of who was leading the Warband. Membership As with the other Decimator Warbands, here were certain rules to the membership of Tigon that were designed to encourage a unified and ongoing culture. As with the other warbands, all members of Tigon had to be human; Ghouls and Super Mutants were seen as being the enemy, and not being ‘worthy’ of the Decimator’s supposed ancient and noble traditions. As with the other warbands, there were two ways to join the band’s ranks. The first was to be born into it, as the recognised child of two existing members of the warband. This rule existed to ensure the continuity of their culture, and that it would perpetuate itself across generations. The second way was to try and join the Warband from outside, as many did over the years. Those that did try were subject to harsh initiation rituals, including trials by combat, in order to prove their worth to the Warband. While many washed out of these trials, often through being killed, during the good years there were often plenty of volunteers willing to subject themselves to brutal beatings for a shot at power. Territories The Tigon Warband was, at least initially, the fastest to grow of the Decimator warbands. Their aggressive advance, often throwing caution to the wind, saw them seize large swathes of territory in short order. However, this advance proved to be unsustainable, and the other warbands eventually caught up to them. Their later expansion into Wisconsin was fuelled by a similar desire to outperform their fellows, but again, their reach exceeded their means to hold it. Consequently, over the years, the warbands holdings would both grow and shrink several times, although they always held more territory in Wisconsin then any of the others. Technology and equipment Like the other Decimator warbands, Tigon was run on a scavenger-based economy, with most of its equipment being whatever its members could find and use. The warband had very little standardisation across its ranks, but its equipment was also influenced somewhat by their own thinking and emphasis on physical combat. As a result, its members tended to favour melee weapons wherever possible, or even simply fighting hand to hand. Brutality was usually preferred over finesse, making weapons like Super Sledges or improvised clubs and maces popular. Those firearms that the warband possessed were usually simpler weapons, such as pipe guns. For much of their existence, the biggest homegrown industry within the warband was their chem manufacturing. The bulk of their output was based on chems that would enhance physical performance, such as Buffout or Psycho, but some recreational chems were also produced. And while much of that was for internal use, Tigon also exported to other warbands, most notably Nebo. Category:Raiders Category:Groups Category:Defunct